With four games to go in the 2011-2012 season, the Rockets were coming off a 117-110 loss to Dallas, a loss in which Dirk Nowitzki provided a stark reminder to last season's Rockets team that they were devoid of a superstar-caliber player by dropping 21 points on them in the fourth quarter.

To call that loss demoralizing for the Rockets would be a bit of a reach because, truth be told, a big chunk of the morale of that group had been sucked from it in the previous four games, all losses. A week and change later, the 2011-2012 NBA postseason would begin the same way it had the previous two postseasons -- Rocket-less.

Fast-forward to Tuesday night, and with four games to go in the 2012-2013 season, thanks to a timely brain fart from Phoenix's Jermaine O'Neal -- an inexplicable defensive goaltending of a James Harden three at the buzzer -- the Rockets now sit where they haven't been since 2009.

The Rockets are going to the playoffs!

By virtually every metric, the Rockets are historically an average to above-average NBA franchise, so to act like the postseason is some sort of birthright is a tad out of line, but still, three years with no postseason is a long time. Hell, it's not just a long time for the Rockets, it's a long time period in NBA terms when you consider the list of teams with longer postseason-less streaks heading into this season than this year's Rockets team goes as follows (last appearance in parentheses):

Maybe things didn't feel quite as futile as they probably do for fans of those teams, because at least the Rockets were fielding competitive teams in those seasons, but who cares? As Gordon Gekko said, if you're not inside, you're outside. And the Rockets have been outside.

Those days are now over. The Rockets now have a weapon that can counter another team's superstar going off for 21 in the fourth quarter, a superstar of their own in James Harden. They have a young nucleus and a shitload of cap space to add to it this or some future offseason.

And perhaps most important, they have an owner who will use every resource available and allow his people to use every resource available to try and win champions, to change the perception of the Rockets as an historically above-average team to a perennial title contender.

And most certainly they have a general manager in Daryl Morey who will use those resources wisely, even if it means bloating the team's M&L budget ("moving and living" for those of you who've never been transferred in a job before) to where it's probably worthy of its own spinoff company considering how many players have been traded, waived, drafted and signed on Morey's watch.

In fact, in honor of those who served as a Rocket for anywhere from three minutes to three seasons from June 2009 to today, and as an homage to the tireless efforts of Daryl Morey, let's list every transaction that led to a rebuilt playoff team...

(WARNING: Get comfy. Also, you might want to grab some popcorn; this may take awhile.)

Chase Budinger was a piece of the 1,000-piece puzzle.

June 25, 2009: Purchased Jermaine Taylor from the Washington Wizards.

June 25, 2009: Traded cash and a future second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for Chase Budinger.

June 25, 2009: Purchased Sergio Llull from the Denver Nuggets.

July 8, 2009: Signed Trevor Ariza as a free agent.

August 12, 2009: Signed David Andersen as a free agent.

September 3, 2009: Signed Pops Mensah-Bonsu as a free agent.

September 30, 2009: Signed Will Conroy as a free agent.

September 30, 2009: Signed Garrett Temple as a free agent.

December 23, 2009: Signed Mike Harris as a free agent.

January 28, 2010: Signed Will Conroy to a 10-day contract.

February 8, 2010: Signed Garrett Temple to the first of two 10-day contracts.

February 18, 2010: As part of a 3-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded Joey Dorsey and Carl Landry to the Sacramento Kings; the Houston Rockets traded Tracy McGrady to the New York Knicks; the New York Knicks traded Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries and a future first-round draft pick to the Houston Rockets; the New York Knicks traded Larry Hughes to the Sacramento Kings; the Sacramento Kings traded Hilton Armstrong and Kevin Martin to the Houston Rockets; and the Sacramento Kings traded Sergio Rodriguez to the New York Knicks. Houston had the option to swap first-round draft picks with New York in 2011 but did not do so.

March 2, 2010: Signed Will Conroy to a 10-day contract.

March 24, 2010: Signed Mike Harris to a contract for the rest of the season.

July 28, 2010: Traded David Andersen to the Toronto Raptors for cash and a 2015 second-round draft pick.

August 11, 2010: As part of a 4-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded Trevor Ariza to the New Orleans Hornets; the Indiana Pacers traded Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets; the New Jersey Nets traded Courtney Lee to the Houston Rockets; and the New Orleans Hornets traded Darren Collison and James Posey to the Indiana Pacers.

August 23, 2010: Signed Ishmael Smith as a free agent.

September 24, 2010: Signed Antonio Anderson as a free agent.

December 15, 2010: As part of a 3-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded a future first-round draft pick to the New Jersey Nets; the Houston Rockets traded Sergei Lishouk to the Los Angeles Lakers; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Sasha Vujacic and a 2011 first-round draft pick (JaJuan Johnson) to the New Jersey Nets; the New Jersey Nets traded Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets; and the New Jersey Nets traded Joe Smith, a 2011 second-round draft pick (Darius Morris) and a 2012 second-round draft pick (Robert Sacre) to the Los Angeles Lakers.

December 15, 2010: Traded Jermaine Taylor and cash to the Sacramento Kings for a 2011 second-round draft pick. Houston did not receive the second-round draft pick because it was top 55 protected.

June 29, 2012: As part of a 4-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded cash to the Dallas Mavericks; the Dallas Mavericks traded Lamar Odom to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Dallas Mavericks traded Shan Foster to the Utah Jazz; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Furkan Aledmir to the Houston Rockets; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Mo Williams to the Utah Jazz; and the Utah Jazz traded Tadija Dragicevic to the Dallas Mavericks.

July 11, 2012: Traded Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors for Gary Forbes and a future first-round draft pick.

July 11, 2012: Traded Marcus Camby to the New York Knicks for Toney Douglas, Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan, a future second-round draft pick and a future second-round draft pick.

July 17, 2012: Signed Jeremy Lin as a free agent.

July 20, 2012: As part of a 3-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded Courtney Lee to the Boston Celtics; the Boston Celtics traded JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams and a 2013 2nd round draft pick to the Houston Rockets; the Boston Celtics traded Sasha Pavlovic to the Portland Trail Blazers; and the Portland Trail Blazers traded Jon Diebler to the Houston Rockets.

February 21, 2013: Traded Marcus Morris to the Phoenix Suns for a 2013 second-round draft pick.

February 25, 2013: Signed Tim Ohlbrecht as a free agent.

March 5, 2013: Signed Aaron Brooks as a free agent.

If you're keeping score at home, 55 different players suited up for the Rockets in a regular season game from the time they were ousted from the 2009 playoffs to the playoff berth clinching game on Tuesday night.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on 1560 Yahoo! Sports Radio from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and nationally on the Yahoo! Sports Radio network Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon CST. Also, follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SeanCablinasian.

Sean is a contributing freelance writer who covers Houston area sports daily in the News section, with periodic columns and features, as well. He also hosts afternoon drive on SportsRadio 610, as well as the post game show for the Houston Texans.